‘Everything is ruined’: Travellers disappointed they could not attend Olympic medal ceremony after French national railway company was damaged

2024-07-26 23:59:54

Flights were cancelled across France following several acts of vandalism on several TGV lines on Thursday and Friday night, with disruptions expected to continue this weekend. According to SNCF, more than 800,000 passengers were affected in total, some of whom were heading to Paris for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday night.

Economist Christophe Lepetit had planned to travel to Paris with his wife for the medal ceremony. She was unable to reach the capital. He expressed his anger to Le Parisien: “For eighteen months we had been planning an Olympic family weekend with two little girls who had dreamed of this moment. Everything was ruined overnight. »

Horacio also has to go to Paris. This Friday evening, stuck in Bayonne (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), he asked for a refund of his tickets for the opening ceremony for those who “chose the most environmentally friendly means of transport” and whose train “will certainly not be on time” for the event.

videoSNCF suffered ‘massive attack’ on first day of Olympics

The same observations were made in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique). Made in Western FranceAll trains to Paris before 5 pm have been cancelled. Shat Azuno, a Japanese who came to Nantes to watch the match between Japan and Spain, told our colleagues that he found himself stranded in Loire-Atlantique, although he had a place to attend the ceremony. Two Finns, Josue and Petra, were to attend the ceremony and also to participate in a beach volleyball match this Saturday. They have not yet found a solution to arrive on time: “If we take the bus, it takes nine hours. Too long! We will miss the ceremony,” they lamented to the newspaper.

Tickets for the opening ceremony are back on sale due to train cancellations. On social networks, some people have appealed to those who are unable to travel. Like Alexis on X : “Apologies to everyone affected by the train problems. If you still want to sell tickets for the opening ceremony, I’m interested! »

This Friday morning, the Paris prosecutor’s office, the national judicial body for the fight against organized crime (Junalco), announced that it had opened an investigation into “all acts of deliberate damage to SNCF sites”. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the investigation was aimed in particular at property damage that could harm the fundamental interests of the state, as well as damage and attempted damage by organized groups using dangerous means. The anti-terrorist branch (Sdat) is coordinating the investigation.

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